'Extreme lengths' Hubers took to 'please Mr. Poston sexually' a new defense in retrial

Opening statements for Shayna Hubers' second trial began on Tuesday August 14, 2018.
Cincinnati Enquirer

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Shayna Hubers, 27, is brought into the Campbell County Courtroom of Judge Daniel Zalla for her retrial in the shooting death of Ryan Poston on October 12, 2012 in his apartment in Highland Heights. Hubers, who was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to 40 years, was granted a retrial after her attorney discovered a juror in the first trial had a prior felony conviction.(Photo: Liz Dufour/The Enquirer)Buy Photo

There have been marked departures in the retrial of Shayna Hubers compared to the first trial which was thrown out.

The defense is focusing on the troubled relationship between Shayna Hubers and Ryan Poston. In opening statements, Hubers' attorney said in the year and a half that Hubers and Poston were dating, Hubers never had an orgasm and went to extreme lengths to please her boyfriend. That level of scrutiny of the couple's troubled relationship was not reached during the first trial.

The defense still says that Hubers fatally shot Poston in self-defense, but are taking a step back, putting the jury in the world of two "deeply flawed persons in an unhealthy relationship."

Hubers was found guilty of murdering 29-year-old Poston in 2015 but was granted a retrial after her attorney discovered a juror in the first trial had a prior felony conviction.

In openings on Tuesday, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kyle Burns said they wouldn't try to paint Ryan as the perfect boyfriend, but the prosecution does insist on one thing – Ryan Poston wasn't abusive. The prosecution says Hubers shot Poston because he was trying to end the relationship for good and that she would go to extreme lengths to stay with Poston.

Lead defense attorney David Eldridge said on the first night they met, Poston was sexually and physically violent and after that, it took weeks for Hubers to respond to his messages.

Eldridge also said when she was in high school, Hubers was sexually assaulted. Eldridge said it has “long affected her.” She also had a history of alcohol abuse and sexual promiscuity.

Eldridge said Hubers never had an orgasm while she was with Poston. He mentioned it at least four times during his opening statement. He said Poston constantly badgered Hubers about her weight and breast size. Eldridge said Poston wanted Hubers to have larger breasts.

"She could not reach orgasm, that was a constant theme in that relationship. There were extreme lengths to which Ms. Hubers would go to please Mr. Poston sexually," Eldridge said.

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At one point, she even got a shot in hopes that would help her orgasm, Eldridge said. In the meantime, Poston and Hubers would break up, get back together and they would talk to other people.

The relationship was flawed, both sides agree to that.

Ryan Poston(Photo: Provided)

On the night of the shooting, the prosecution said it was finally time for Poston to break up with Hubers because she wouldn't leave him alone. She always came back, even after Poston ended things, the prosecution said. A work friend testified that this time it was going to stick because Poston had never broken up with Hubers face-to-face.

She was "relentless in her efforts to stay with him,” Burns said.

Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. Monday. The jury, predominately white and made up of 11 women and three men will be left to make the decision before the month is over, if the trial sticks to the predicted schedule.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Michelle Snodgrass will continue the prosecution's case. During the first trial she took four days before resting her case.

The thousands of Facebook and text messages between the couple and their friends have been touched on briefly, but in the first trial the more than 50,000 texts, 20,000 Facebook chats and thousands of photos made a roadmap. Those pieces of evidence are still in play.

The prosecution also did not bring out the bloodstained dining room table and chair from Poston's apartment. The jury has also not heard from inmates who met Hubers after the shooting.

If opening statements are an indication for testimony, a psychologist will be called to testify on Hubers' mental state and Hubers’ mother will be called to talk about her childhood. In the first trial, Hubers took the stand in her defense but attorneys have not said if she will this time.